Got to play on a Sim yesterday. The engine was Links LS. The sensors were two planes of lasers. The ball broke both planes and trajectory, direction, and ball speed are measured.

The guy said that it also measured ball spin, but I don't believe it.

It was fun, but not THAT realistic. I could definitely see some bad swing habits grooving if you hit balls on something like this rather than going to the range. The ball speed was a bit messed up at times. I would go from hitting an 8 iron 170 yards to "smashing" a driver 190. The first 5 or 6 holes I air mailed every green. Chipping wasn't bad, but 30 yard pitch shots were almost impossible to judge.

I've played that too. Coincidentally, I played at Pebble too. The spin is not necessarily measured, rather, it is calculated by a complex algorithm based on the other factors. Needless to say, its not all entirely accurate. And I had the same experience as you with the short game. Its not very accurate the closer you get to the hole. Did you try putting? It's almost a joke, there is no way to judge speed on short chips and putts, or greenside bunker shots. That was the annoying part. Oh..that and the graphics, which on the simulator that I used, looked like they came straight outta Windows 95.

We got pretty decent at putting. My buddy made 3 from 12-20 feet!